Exit Strategy

August 31, 2010 10:08 pm 2 comments Views:

Share this Article

Author:

Bob Herbert:

One of the reasons we’re in this state of nonstop warfare is the fact that so few Americans have had any personal stake in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no draft and no direct financial hardship resulting from the wars. So we keep shipping other people’s children off to combat as if they were some sort of commodity, like coal or wheat, with no real regard for the terrible price so many have to pay, physically and psychologically.

Not only is this tragic, it is profoundly disrespectful. These are real men and women, courageous and mostly uncomplaining human beings, that we are sending into the war zones, and we owe them our most careful attention. Above all, we owe them an end to two wars that have gone on much too long.

2 Comments

  • When will those who opposed Bush’s Wars begin to actively oppose Obama’s Wars???

  • This country is too big and mighty to be invoved in petty places like Viet Nam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Why should we keep sending our innocent kids to be maimed and slaughtered and not give them a chance to win the objective as soldiers? Our forces are not and should not be the world’s policemen. They are fighting men who took an oath to defend this great country, but they have been relegated to pawns in a battle for oil and peace in a region that will never accept peace and we have more than enough oil right here at home.

Other News

  • My So-Called Life

    Missing

    One remote control. My son says he doesn’t know what he did with it. Checked couch cushions, etc. I keep thinking he put it in his pocket, because he’s absentminded like me, but he says no. I guess this is a good time to watch some DVDs. Bookmark It

    Read more →
  • Blogosphere Corporate Statism Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

    Stop SOPA

    Here’s why: PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo. Bookmark It

    Read more →
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

    2nd amendment Christmas

    Soldier shot and paralyzed at homecoming party. A 7-year-old boy shot in the head from shots fired outside. Seven people shot dead. They were opening Christmas presents. A 3-year-old shoots and kills 5-year-old. A 58-year-old woman shot from stray bullet while sleeping in bed. Bookmark It

    Read more →
  • The Regime

    Syria

    A government that resorts to this is falling apart: BEIRUT — As government troops advanced on a village in northwestern Syria, activists say the terrified residents fled into a valley for fear of being arrested or worse. What happened next, one of the activists said, was “an organized massacre.” The troops surrounded the valley and unleashed a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire in an hours-long assault, according to two human rights groups and a witness, killing more [...]

    Read more →
  • Featured

    The big lie

    If you blinked, you probably missed this. The SEC announced Friday that GE Funding would pay a mere $743 million (chump change to these people) to settle charges of bid-rigging. When I was a reporter, the scale of fraud involved in this kind of thing drove me crazy, because no matter how carefully I’d report it, it was too complicated for most readers (and some politicians) to grasp. Yet it costs them real money. I remember that during the Carter [...]

    Read more →
  • Arts & Music

    I feel fine

    Sing along! Steve Simels has the backing track to the Beatles’ song, and talks about Bobby Parker’s “Watch Your Step,” the song that was probably Lennon’s model for the tune – a song that, as Simels points out, was pretty clearly inspired by Ray Charles’ “What I’d Say.” Folk process! Bookmark It

    Read more →
  • Arts & Music

    Merry Christmas (I don’t want to fight tonight)

    The Ramones: Bookmark It

    Read more →
  • Arts & Music

    Hang all the mistletoe

    Chris Brown: Bookmark It

    Read more →